Monday Musings

A few random thoughts and ponderings to start the week...

OK... maybe not so "random." I mean really, there's just one thing on the mind of Catholics today. As I am sure everyone already knows, Pope Benedict will be stepping down as Supreme Pontiff at the end of February. God bless Pope Benedict XVI as he moves on to the next phase of his journey here on earth. And may God bless the Church as she awaits the guidance of the next successor to Peter.

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So I had an interesting (and frustrating) conversation on Facebook with a friend of a friend concerning Pope Benedict's forced participation in the Nazi youth organization when he was a young man in Germany. The man with whom I discussed this matter said the following (I'll call him 'Bob' - though that is not his real name):

Bob: He is a Nazi. I am surprised how the media is running with the story, as if the Pope is the world's christian leader. The only coverage the Baptist get is about Westboro Church, as if we all act that way.

It seems that Bob is  a Baptist who wishes that his church got more news coverage. Uh, well, Bob, that's not always such a great thing. Have you seen the coverage that Catholics get? Careful what you wish for. It's not as though the media is going to sugarcoat everything about the pope in the next few weeks.

Then someone else chimed in to comment on what Bob had said:

"I'm not a fan of his. I was RC and I did not embrace the direction the RC Church went in or his theological world view. He is not a Nazi, however. He was a teenager in seminary when he got drafted into the German Army. He was in the Hitler Youth as it was required of all German youth at the time. He deserted from the army and surrendered to the Allies and promptly went back to seminary. While I disagree with him on most things theological, I'd not call him a Nazi."

So then the conversation went as follows:

Me: Bob, I find it ironic that in one breath you call the pope a Nazi while at the same time complain that Baptists get unfair treatment in the media. As Mr. ____ pointed out above, the allegation that Pope Benedict is a Nazi is itself unfair and unfounded. So likewise is the idea that all Baptists are of the Westboro mindset. So let's all keep a fair mind in all of this.

Bob: Sorry, he was part of Hitler's Youth Army, not a Nazi. I had no idea there was a difference. I guess we can no longer call members of Al Qaida terrorists.

Me: In Nazi Germany young men and boys were required to join, sometimes being dragged against their will...like a military draft. He was not a willing member. He deserted (as Mr. ____ said above) and turned himself in. He had no desire to be in the Nazi organization and was not a Nazi.

Bob:  No man is forced into being anything, you always have a choice. The Pope could have become a Martyr.

Me: You are correct that no man can be forced to be a Nazi...you either agree with the Party platform or you don't. They may drag you to the camp, force you to wear the uniform, and threaten your wellbeing, but they cannot force you to change your innermost beliefs. Joseph Ratzinger and those who knew him back then all say that he did NOT become a Nazi.

But you also cannot force the enemy to kill you so that you can be a martyr. That was a decision the Nazi's could have made about the young man who is now pope, but obviously Ratzinger had no control over whether the Nazi's would kill him. You are setting up a false choice. He could not choose how the Nazis would react to his resistance. 

There are many Germans who escaped death in much the same way that young Joseph Ratzinger did... Are you calling them all Nazis? You need to think about what you are saying before throwing out labels like that. People may start believing that you are a Westboro Baptist. You're starting to sound like one.

Well, I don't care what the Bob's of the world think (and believe me there will be plenty of Bobs on the evening news between now and February 28), I say: God bless you Pope Benedict! And thank you.

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like. I'll serve up more next Friday...

European Archbishops Warn of Increasingly Harsh Attacks on the Church - "The head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith says media criticisms are provoking ‘artificially generated anger’ that sometimes is suggestive of ‘a pogrom atmosphere.'"

When Little Government Foxes Spoil the Vines of Business and Ministry - "Abraham Kuyper famously wrote that 'there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’' This view may seem uncontroversial to some, yet it is increasingly seen by our scrupulous government overlords to be irrelevant to First Amendment protections..."

Faith Under Fire: “If Government Can Do This, What Can’t It Do?” - "...the United States government is demanding that 'every business owner, every bishop, every nun, you name it' gives up their freedom to exercise their religion or be fined until they go out of business."

Bishop of Brooklyn: If You Voted for Obama, You’re Responsible for the Culture of Death - "We know that today an Administration that is hostile requires contraception and sterilization. However, as Government involves itself in our internal affairs, there is little doubt in anyone’s mind that the Government would seek to compel religious institutions to provide abortion services in the future." [I love it when bishops speak the truth so forcefully.]

Catholic Bishops to Obama: “HHS Proposal Falls Short” - "The more you look at the latest HHS ‘accommodation’ the more you realize that the only answer is its full repeal."

No Deal! Bishops to Administration: You Can't Force Lay Catholics to Act Against Faith - "'In obedience to our Judeo-Christian heritage, we have consistently taught our people to live their lives during the week to reflect the same beliefs that they proclaim on the Sabbath,' said Cardinal Dolan. 'We cannot now abandon them to be forced to violate their morally well-informed consciences.'"

Making sense of another ambiguous ‘compromise’ - [Letter from Archbishop Chaput on the new HHS mandate 'compromise'.]

Legal Scholar Deplores Media Confusion Over HHS Mandate - "'The explanation was far from clear,' she said, and its complexity has left many people unsure of the proposal's exact details." See also: Bad Science and Failed Freedom Protections in the HHS Mandate, and this : HHS Revisited: The New "Compromise"

Woman Dies After Botched 33-Week Abortion Takes Her Life - [What a tragedy... But we must also realize that every "successful" abortion entails the death of a human being.]

Kids Will Commit Gun Violence Anyway…Let’s Make Sure They Do It Safely - [The logical inconsistencies of the Left never cease to amaze me.]

Those Catholic Women Who Use Contraception - "Now that the issue has been brought to the national stage, however, they understood with clarity that the Church opposes artificial contraception. There was no more room for willful ignorance, no way to avoid the topic. They now saw that, according to their own belief system, their reproductive choices were sinful."

Our Bodies, Our Consciences - "Our problems won’t all be solved through legislative action. And legislative action, while it may sometimes be crucial, can’t be maximized without a fuller context."

Huggies Commercial: “There’s a Human being in Your Stomach” - [Great message in the commercial... but the company has a way to go before you can call them "pro-life."]

Media Bias and the 60 Minutes Obama-Clinton Interview - [Media bias?! Sure not!]

Ronald Reagan: A Pro-Life Hero, Champion on Abortion  - [Don't you wish you could say that about our current President?]

Why is Homeland Security arming itself with 2 BILLION rounds of ammunition? - "Curiously, a surprising number of documents have been leaked, suggesting that there is a network of alarmed and concerned citizens working for the government that are trying to warn the people that something is happening..."

Hastening the Reform of the Reform; or, the End of Clown Masses - "In recent decades, especially in the English-speaking world, the words used in the Church’s sacred liturgy have been miserably inadequate for the glory of their task."

Like the Dewfall - "The breath of the Holy Spirit is all around me.  It wants to cling, to refresh, to nourish -- and to help us reflect back to the world our little portion of light."

When was the book of Revelation written? - [Evidence for an earlier dating]

A Reflection On Infant Baptism From A Night At RCIA -  "Baptism is not about making a personal decision for Jesus. Baptism is about the removal of original sin, the bestowal of real grace, becoming a son or daughter of the Father, and being initiated into Christ’s Church, and much more theological depth than this."

Who Was the First Photographed Saint? (Plus Great Photos of Certain Famous Saints) - [Interesting...]

Is Jesus Christ the "Genetic Twin" of the Blessed Virgin Mary? Let's ask St Thomas Aquinas... - [Not the best way to ask the question, but you get the idea.]

Catechism for the Year of Faith

Part of a continuing series.

A selected quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in honor of the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013) 

515 The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have the faith and wanted to share it with others. Having known in faith who Jesus is, they could see and make others see the traces of his mystery in all his earthly life. From the swaddling clothes of his birth to the vinegar of his Passion and the shroud of his Resurrection, everything in Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery. His deeds, miracles and words all revealed that "in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily." His humanity appeared as "sacrament", that is, the sign and instrument, of his divinity and of the salvation he brings: what was visible in his earthly life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine sonship and redemptive mission.

517 Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption. Redemption comes to us above all through the blood of his cross, but this mystery is at work throughout Christ's entire life:

- already in his Incarnation through which by becoming poor he enriches us with his poverty;
- in his hidden life which by his submission atones for our disobedience;
- in his word which purifies its hearers;
- in his healings and exorcisms by which "he took our infirmities and bore our diseases";
- and in his Resurrection by which he justifies us.

519 All Christ's riches "are for every individual and are everybody's property." Christ did not live his life for himself but for us, from his Incarnation "for us men and for our salvation" to his death "for our sins" and Resurrection "for our justification". He is still "our advocate with the Father", who "always lives to make intercession" for us. He remains ever "in the presence of God on our behalf, bringing before him all that he lived and suffered for us."

522 The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant". He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.

525 Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest. The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night:

The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
And the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
The angels and shepherds praise him
And the magi advance with the star,
For you are born for us,
Little Child, God eternal!

526 To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become "children of God" we must be "born from above" or "born of God". Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this "marvelous exchange":

O marvelous exchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity.

527 Jesus' circumcision, on the eighth day after his birth, is the sign of his incorporation into Abraham's descendants, into the people of the covenant...

528 The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world...

529 The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord...

530 The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents make manifest the opposition of darkness to the light...

532 Jesus' obedience to his mother and legal father fulfills the fourth commandment perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience to his Father in heaven. The everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph and Mary both announced and anticipated the obedience of Holy Thursday: "Not my will..." The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his hidden life was already inaugurating his work of restoring what the disobedience of Adam had destroyed.

533 The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life:

The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus - the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us. . . A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character. . . A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the "Carpenter's Son", in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work. . .

534 The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus. Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a mission that flows from his divine sonship: "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's work?" Mary and Joseph did not understand these words, but they accepted them in faith. Mary "kept all these things in her heart" during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life.

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like. I'll serve up more next Friday...

[...I had internet problems on Friday, so this is a day late.]

Social networks need more logic, love and less ranting, rage, pope says - "Social media 'need the commitment of all who are conscious of the value of dialogue, reasoned debate and logical argumentation,' the pope said."

Church Militant: Forward March! - "...the Church Militant has its marching orders: we must heal our own wounds first before we can heal the world."

What Does it Really Mean to be a Practicing Catholic? - "Unfortunately, the term practicing Catholic is bit squishy (or vague or ambiguous as lawyers might say) and subject to abuse by all manner of Catholics (in name only) who seek to justify their various stances."

Are You Part of the Great Catholic Migration of the 21st Century? - [I am!] "They are realigning their attendance, resources, skills, and money to those parishes, orders, schools, colleges, and other institutions that support and promote traditional Catholic orthodoxy and practice." See also this follow-up post from the same author: Was the Mass of Padre Pio Equal to the Mass of Fr Marcial Maciel (St Thomas Aquinas Answers This Question)

Obama Offers Yet Another Insufficient “Compromise” on the HHS Mandate - "The biggest problem is that these new (80-page!) regulations still force private businesses (like Hobby Lobby) and business owners to pay for contraceptive (and abortifacient) coverage in their employee’s health plans."

Reporters Who Watch Abortions Tell of Their Brutal Reality - [Gruesome descriptions, but it is important that we never forget what really happens in abortion.]

The Disappearing Pro-life Movement - "Last Friday hundreds of thousands of pro-life ninjas marched on Washington and were so stealthy that news cameras completely missed them. Yet a march for gun control with barely 1,000 people became front-page news."

‘All our detractors can do is call us names’ - "...as Archbishop of San Francisco, [Salvatore Cordileonehe] is one of the most vocal members of the US bishops’ conference in objecting to the re-definition of marriage."

The Age of Apathy - "Apathy is central. We have too short an attention span to really care. We care about small tragedies, but don’t have time for bigger tragedies and issues, as Joseph Stalin once said,  'The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.'"

The Most Disturbing Aspect of the President’s Inaugural Address - "...what bothers me here is the way in which Obama uses the Declaration of Independence and attempts to transfigure it into something entirely new, and something on the basis of which there can be endless, unpredictable transformation of American society."

Yet another reason why we must fight for the unborn - "Abortion does not save lives. It ends them. 55 million over the past 40 years to be precise. But that irrefutable fact didn’t stop MSNBC host Toure Neblett this past week from thanking God that abortion is legal, and that in some ways it saved his life." See also: Group Drops Sick Ad Celebrating Abortion: “Happy 40th Anniversary Baby”

TV Star Patricia Heaton Tweets Support for March for Life Participants - [There are some respectable Hollywood actors out there.]

Leaning Forward But Knocked Back: Pro-Lifer Rocks MSNBC Interview - "America needs more than media cheerleaders for the abortion industry. We need the truth. And in this MSNBC interview, we speak it."

Why God Does Not Love Us All The Same - "...He has called us in such a way that only we can love Him in a way that is unique to each of us. For just as God does not love us all in the same way each of us loves Him in a way that no other can."

The Good Samaritan Effect: The Virtuous Cycle of Private Charity - "Advocates for government as the primary provider of welfare argue that dependence on private charity demeans aid recipients and that voluntary giving by individuals is too small to meet the needs of the poor. Yet research reveals significant flaws in both of these arguments." [Who knew you would find an article like this on the Huffington Post?)

Want To Tell The State To Stick It? Homeschool Your Kids - "The swelling legions of homeschoolers poke a subtle rebuke at America’s ever expanding nanny state."

Don't Get Inked: Why The Church Should Start Speaking about Tattoos and What It Should Say  - [One of those issues that I just don't think about much, but here's a thoughtful piece on the subject.]

The Feast Day of my patron saint was this week, so here are a couple of pieces about him: St. Thomas Aquinas, and Summa Theologica

Catechism for the Year of Faith

Part of a continuing series.

A selected quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in honor of the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013)


457 The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who "loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins": "the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world", and "he was revealed to take away sins":

    Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?

458 The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

459 The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me." "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." On the mountain of the Transfiguration, the Father commands: "Listen to him!" Jesus is the model for the Beatitudes and the norm of the new law: "Love one another as I have loved you." This love implies an effective offering of oneself, after his example.

460 The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature": "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God." "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God." "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods."

464 The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man.

470 Because "human nature was assumed, not absorbed", in the mysterious union of the Incarnation, the Church was led over the course of centuries to confess the full reality of Christ's human soul, with its operations of intellect and will, and of his human body. In parallel fashion, she had to recall on each occasion that Christ's human nature belongs, as his own, to the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it. Everything that Christ is and does in this nature derives from "one of the Trinity". The Son of God therefore communicates to his humanity his own personal mode of existence in the Trinity. In his soul as in his body, Christ thus expresses humanly the divine ways of the Trinity:

    The Son of God. . . worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin.

486 The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is "Christ", that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist, to the disciples. Thus the whole life of Jesus Christ will make manifest "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."

 488 "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him, he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary":

    The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.

490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role."132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

    The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.135

495 Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord". In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).

 499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it." And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the "Ever-virgin".

500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus", are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls "the other Mary". They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.

501 Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's love."

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like. I'll serve up more next Friday...

Pope Tweets Support for March for Life - "I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life."

 40 Years, 55 Million Dead: Pro-Lifers Say Roe Must Go - [Amen to that!]

Why Are Americans Outraged by Sandy Hook, Apathetic About Abortion? - "Let me be clear: the problem is not our horror, sadness, and outrage over Sandy Hook. That was appropriate and even morally obligatory. The problem is our pathological indifference to abortion."

From Abortion Worker to Catholic Apostle - "A former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson tells how an ultrasound of an unborn baby’s fight for life eventually let her to the Catholic Church and to a new apostolate."

Woman Behind Roe v. Wade: “I’m Dedicating My Life to Overturning It” - "Back in 1973, I was a very confused twenty-one year old with one child and facing an unplanned pregnancy... At the time I fought to obtain a legal abortion, but truth be told, I have three daughters and never had an abortion.”

What I Saw in Phoenix: Pro-Life Grassroots in Action - "Rallies and marches like this one are taking place across America right now. God bless the efforts of this next generation of pro-life activists!"

Denver Archbishop Says Abortion Encounter Changed Him - Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver said his exposure to abortion as a hospital orderly still haunts him and prompts him to urge penitence and pro-life action."

Nurse Tells of Babies Left to Die After Failed Abortions - "I held a little abortion survivor for 45 minutes until he died, which was obviously life-changing. Then, eventually, I went public and got fired."

Congresswoman: Roe v. Wade Abortion Case “Affirms Motherhood” - [It disgusts me that this passes for an acceptable position in today's political world...and the Democratic Party embraces such rhetoric.]

What Would Martin Luther King, Jr. Have Thought of Abortion? - "African Americans are a prime target of the abortion industry. In analyzing the location of the nation’s abortion centers, some have found a disproportionate number situated in majority-black neighborhoods." See also: Martin Luther King Jr’s Niece: My Uncle Would be Pro-Life

Obama Administration Protects Chimps, No Protection for Unborn - "...those who have pushed so hard over many years to protect research chimps are no more anti-science than those who have pushed to protect embryos in research and wish to prevent human cloning, which are also ethical issues."

Obama’s ‘Gay Rights’ Agenda on Collision Course With Religious Liberty - "As the president ponders his options, religious leaders and religious-liberty advocates will also be reviewing legal and legislative strategies for protecting their freedom to support traditional marriage."

Obama’s Orwellian Marriage Moment - "We live in a strange Orwellian moment when to say “parenting relationships deserve special status” is denounced as bigotry and to say, “I deny that parenting relationships are unique” is hailed as brave and bold."

Eight Reasons Not to Use Graphic Abortion Images at the March for Life - "These images are like a terrible weapon which should be used with fear and trembling, and only as a last resort." However...this may be an appropriate use of such images: Obama Motorcade Forced to Confront Pictures of Aborted Babies

“Reproductive Rights” Run Amuck - "The desire for children is natural (especially for women) and good, but that doesn’t mean we’re entitled to have the children that we so desire."

The New York Times finally realizes Pope Paul VI was right about contraceptives - "For an outlet that has been known to tilt to the left (to say the least), the Times’ decision to publish Williams’ essay is remarkable. It belies everything the media and cultural elites stand for."

Why is Justice Scalia Wearing Sir Thomas More’s Hat? - "The hat is a custom-made replica of the hat depicted in Holbein’s famous portrait of St. Thomas More. It was a gift from the St. Thomas More Society of Richmond, Virginia." [I want one!]

Robert George: Catholic Oppression Coming Over Marriage - "In a Jan. 17 email to Catholic News Agency, Robert George of Princeton University warned of rising oppression against those who oppose a redefinition of marriage."

Deadly Deceit - "Bad law and bad theology have contributed to the deceitful rationale for why abortion would be considered an acceptable choice for a Christian. It is painful that they know God on some level, but their faith is poorly formed, leading them to reject His law when it is convenient to do so."

Catholicism and Free Thought - "Catholicism, rooted and nurtured and flourishing within the Western classical tradition provides a unique and irreplaceable structure in which truly free thought can flourish. "

Waiter hailed as hero after standing up for boy with Down syndrome - [This was just a very heart-warming story.]

Catechism for the Year of Faith

Part of a continuing series.

A selected quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in honor of the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013)

425 The transmission of the Christian faith consists primarily in proclaiming Jesus Christ in order to lead others to faith in him. From the beginning, the first disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Christ: "We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."' And they invite people of every era to enter into the joy of their communion with Christ:

    That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life - the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete.

427 In catechesis "Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God,. . . is taught - everything else is taught with reference to him - and it is Christ alone who teaches - anyone else teaches to the extent that he is Christ's spokesman, enabling Christ to teach with his lips. . . Every catechist should be able to apply to himself the mysterious words of Jesus: 'My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.'"

430 Jesus means in Hebrew: "God saves." At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission. Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, "will save his people from their sins". In Jesus, God recapitulates all of his history of salvation on behalf of men.

436 The word "Christ" comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means "anointed". It became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission that "Christ" signifies. In effect, in Israel those consecrated to God for a mission that he gave were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare instances, for prophets. This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively. It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet. Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king.

441 In the Old Testament, "son of God" is a title given to the angels, the Chosen People, the children of Israel, and their kings. It signifies an adoptive sonship that establishes a relationship of particular intimacy between God and his creature. When the promised Messiah-King is called "son of God", it does not necessarily imply that he was more than human, according to the literal meaning of these texts. Those who called Jesus "son of God", as the Messiah of Israel, perhaps meant nothing more than this.

446 In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed himself to Moses, is rendered as Kyrios, "Lord". From then on, "Lord" becomes the more usual name by which to indicate the divinity of Israel's God. The New Testament uses this full sense of the title "Lord" both for the Father and - what is new - for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God Himself.

447 Jesus ascribes this title to himself in a veiled way when he disputes with the Pharisees about the meaning of Psalm 110, but also in an explicit way when he addresses his apostles. Throughout his public life, he demonstrated his divine sovereignty by works of power over nature, illnesses, demons, death and sin.